ARCH 4/507 - Architectural Aesthetics and Building Composition

Architectural Aesthetics and Building Composition!
Prof. Ralf Weber
Hardly any other discipline concerns itself with aesthetic
considerations to the same extent as architecture aside from the
visual arts and literature. Indeed, aesthetic issues form an important
core of any environmental design process, for many of the most
fundamental planning decisions involve making choices about form
and space and thus require aesthetic judgements. Likewise, the
perceiver's experience of form for its impact on judging buildings
cannot be declared secondary to the pragmatic facets of architecture.
Therefore, aesthetics should take a central place in the education of
future architects, designers and planners.
This seminar will give an introduction to the field of aesthetics in
general and specifically to architectural aesthetics. It will explore the
background of prominent theories in architecture, in art, in design, in
philosophy and in psychology and show their mutual influences and
how they flow into a broader understanding of a field that can be
called architectural aesthetics.
3 Credits
Tuesday: Lectures
Thursday: student
presentations &
individual
consultations
Ralf Weber
(PhD UC Berkeley)
is a Visiting Professor
from Dresden
University in Germany
Yet equally important in this class is the application of aesthetics to
the actual design process. Various theories and methods of
architectural composition in the history of architecture and in
contemporary design will be investigated regarding their relevance to
today‘s challenges in architecture and urban design.
Selected topics will include:
What is Aesthetics What is Architectural Aesthetics
Theories in Architecture: Instrumental, Formalist & Theories of
Communication
Aesthetic Theories in the Philosophy of Art / Architecture vs. Art
Aesthetic Theories in Psychology: Perception and Cognition
Architectural Treatises and Theories pertaining to Aesthetics
Space Perception and Spatial Choreography
Tectonics and the Composition of Facades
Eye Movement Mapping of Spaces and Facades
Scale
Order and Proportion Systems
Each class will start with a lecture by the instructor. Students will
work on a small research project on their own choice and present this
in written and oral form to the class.
In addition, there will be short exercises in class that will test the
application of some of the discussed principles in design practice.
The course aims thus at building bridges between the theoretical and
the practical.

Biographical Sketch
Ralf Weber is a Visiting Professor from Germany, where he is a
Professor of Architecture and Dean of Academic Affairs at the
Faculty of Architecture, Dresden University of Technology.
He received his Diploma in Architecture at the University of Dresden.
Thereafter, he settled in Stuttgart where he practiced architecture in
the office of Frei Otto / Rolf Gutbrodt and taught at Stuttgart
University before moving to Berkeley, California, where he received a
PhD in Design Methodology, Environmental Psychology and
Aesthetics. He taught for several years at UC Berkeley before he
returned to Dresden after the reunification of Germany, when he was
appointed Chair for Spatial Design in Architecture. He has held
visiting professorships in Ankara, Kent State, Florence and Potsdam.
In his teaching and research he attempts to build bridges between
the disciplines of architecture and design on the one hand and the
theories of aesthetics and visual perception on the other. He teaches
Design Foundations and Architectural Design studios, as well as
lecture courses and seminars.
Since he does not believe in a schism between theory and practice,
he enjoys teaching hands-on architectural design as well as working
on research projects in architectural theory and aesthetics. He is the
internationally published author of the books: On the Aesthetics of
Architecture; Aesthetics and Architectural Composition; and Thema
Material as well as numerous articles bridging the fields of
architecture, aesthetics and psychology.